CTAs Up in October, Currency Managers Lag

The Barclay CTA Index rose 1.05% in October, with all sub-indices apart from currency managers gaining. Just over 76% of managers have reported for the month, the index is now up 6.13% year-to-date.

The Currency Traders Index fell 0.41% in October, but remains in positive territory, albeit slightly at +0.97% – only the Fin/Metals Index, at -0.3% is behind.

At the other end of the scale, cryptocurrency traders continued to surge ahead, rising 22.49% in October for +165.73% on the year. The MPI Barclay Elite Systematic Traders Index also had a good month, rising 2.27% for a second-best year-to-date performance of +12.4%.

In the broader picture, systematic traders slightly outperformed discretionary, rising 1.13% versus +1.07% on the month. Year-to-date, however discretionary traders remain comfortably ahead of their systematic brethren, up 9.07% compared to +5.31%.

Meanwhile, the BTOP 50 Index, which seeks to replicate the overall composition of the managed futures industry with regard to trading style and overall market exposure, rose by 3.18%, in October, its best performance of the year, taking the year-to-date return to 11.2%.